Vermont Business Magazine Julie Bushey of Highgate, Vermont was convicted on September 6, 2016 on two felony counts of Medicaid Fraud. The charges were related to a personal care services scheme in Franklin County that resulted in over $100,000 in losses to the Vermont Medicaid Program over a nearly five-year period. Karen Tucker, who was convicted last month on four counts of Medicaid fraud, orchestrated the scheme and enlisted Bushey and three other women to submit false timesheets. All participants in the fraud have now been convicted and sentenced in connection with the fraudulent conduct.
Bushey pled no contest and admitted that the State could have proven at trial her participation in a scheme to submit false timesheets for personal care services under the Children’s Personal Care Services Program (CPCS). CPCS is a program operated by the Vermont Department of Health with funding from Vermont Medicaid to provide personal care services for children with physical or developmental difficulties. Karen Tucker was the employer-of-record in charge of approving timesheets, and timesheets were submitted that purported to show Bushey as a caregiver for three child beneficiaries. The State alleged, and Bushey admitted the State could prove, that for large portions of the claims paid to Bushey no care was delivered to the beneficiaries.
Bushey was sentenced to three to five years of incarceration, all suspended with 5 years of probation. Bushey was also ordered to pay $64,633.86 in restitution to the Vermont Medicaid Program and to provide 500 hours of community service. As a consequence of her convictions, she is likely to be excluded from participation as a provider in Medicaid, Medicare, and other federally-funded healthcare programs for five years.
The case was investigated and prosecuted by the Medicaid Fraud and Residential Abuse Unit within the Vermont Attorney General’s Office with assistance from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of the Inspector General.
Vermont AG: Sept 8, 2016